The SnakePit Guide to the Wild-card Round

Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty ImagesThe new, expanded playoffs start, now with even more teams! It definitely lowers the bar for entry. Under the pre-2012 system, the solitary wild-card teams in each league would have been the Blue Jays (92 wins) and the Mets (101). Now, you only need 86 wins to reach the post-season, as demonstrated by the Rays. The Mariners, Padres and Phillies are also only in the playoffs because the rules were changed to accommodate them over the past decade. I'm fairly sure their fans don't care, especially in Seattle, which has not even sniffed a post-season game in Millie Bobby Brown's lifetime. Screw it, let's just treat the regular season as a way to establish seedings for a 30-team playoff bracket, lasting six weeks...

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